There are only roughly 250 family names (seongssi; 성씨; 姓氏) in use today. Each family name is divided into one or more clans (bongwan; 본관; 本寬), identified by the city that the clan office is located in. The most populous clan is Gimhae (Kimhae) Kim (김해 김; 金海金); that is, the Kim clan based in the city of Gimhae (near Busan). Every 30 years, each clan publishes a comprehensive genealogy (jokbo; 족보; 族譜). (See Nahm 1988, p. 33-34 for more information.)

Below are the most common family names that make up over half of the Korean population [1]:

The two-character surnames all rank after the 100 most common surnames. Most of them are uncommon Chinese surnames as well.

The romanizaton of Korean names is not standardized, so Koreans generally romanize their name according to their personal preference.

Unlike the situation in Europe or North America, a woman keeps her family name at marriage, but her children take her husband's name. A small number of women give their children double surnames: one from each parent.

In March 1991, the South Korean Supreme Court (대법원) published the Table of Hanja for Personal Name Use (Inmyeong-yong Chuga Hanja-pyo; 인명용 추가 한자표; 人名用追加漢字表) that restricts the possible Hanja in new Korean given names. Originally the list included the 1,800 Basic Hanja for Educational Use (Hanmun Gyoyuk-yong Gicho Hanja; 한문 교육용 기초 한자; 漢文敎育用基礎漢字) taught in middle and high school plus 1,054 additional characters; since then, the list has been expanded.

Traditionally, given names are determined by a rule called dollimja, (돌림자), which originated in China but fell into disuse there. One of the two characters in a given name is unique to the individual and the other is shared by all people in a family of the same sex and generation, called the generation name.

While the traditional practice is still largely followed, since the late 1970s, some people have given names that are native Korean words, usually of two syllables in length to follow the old 2-character pattern. Popular native Korean given names include Haneul (하늘; "Heaven" or "Sky") and Iseul (이슬; "Dew"). Despite the general trend away from traditional practice, people's names are still recorded in both Hangeul and Hanja (if available) on official documents, in family genealogies, and so on.

Goguryeo in Manchuria and northern Korea and Baekje in southwestern Korea had many non-Chinese family names. They often consisted of two characters and many of them seem to have been toponyms. Judging from Japanese records, some characters were pronounced not by their Chinese reading but by their reading in the native language (see Hanja#Hun and Eum). For example, Goguryeo General Cheon Gaesomun (천개소문; 泉蓋蘇文) is called Iri Kasumi (伊梨柯須弥) in Nihonshoki. Like cheon (천; 泉) in Chinese, iri would presumably have meant "fountain" in the Goguryeo language.

In contrast, Silla family names were totally Chinese-style ones, which is not likely related to King Muyeol's Sinicization policy.

The ancient kings of Korea gave their subjects family names. For example, in AD 33, King Yuri gave the tribes of Saro (Silla) names like Bae (배), Choe (최), Jeong (정), Son (손) and Seol (설). Other names given by kings are An (안), Cha (차), Han (한), Hong (홍), Kim (김), Kwon (권), Nam (남), Eo (어), and Wang (왕).

Mongolian personal names did not include family names, so some Korean nobility had names that were combinations of Sino-Korean family names and Mongolian given names. For example, Ki Cheol (奇轍), a brother of the Qi Empress, was called Ki Bayan Bukha (奇伯顏不花) and the Qi Empress's eunuch was called Bak Bukha (朴不花).

In 1939, during the Japanese Colonial Period (1910-1945) and as part of Governor-General Minami Jiro's policy of cultural assimilation (doka seisaku) [1], Ordinance No. 20 (Commonly called the "Name Order") was issued, which went into law on February 11, 1940, the 2,600th anniversary of the mythical emperor Jimmu's founding of Japan [1].

The ordinance--commonly called Soshi-kaimei (創氏改名) in Japanese--allowed in theory (but compelled in practice) Koreans to adopt Japanese family and given names. Although the Japanese Government-General officially prohibited compulsion, low-level officials practically forced Koreans to get Japanese-style family names, and by 1944, approximately 84 percent of the population had registered Japanese family names (Nahm 1988, p. 233).

Soshi means creation of Japanese family name or si (Korean ssi (씨)), which had different system from Korean family name or seong (Japanese sei). Japanese family names represent the families they belong to and can be changed by marriage and other procedures, while Korean family names represent paternal linkages and are unchangeable. Soshi was a dual operation of Japanese and Korean family name systems. A Korean was able to register a new Japanese family name, or his Korean family name automatically became his Japanese family name. A Korean was not allowed to register another Korean family name. For example, Mr. Bak (박; 朴) was allowed to register Arai (新井) or Boku (the Japanese equivalent of Bak) as his Japanese family name but was forbidden to take the name Kim (김; 金). See External links for more on the Soshi-kaimei policy.

The Name Restoration Order (조선 성명 복구령; 朝鮮姓名復舊令) was issued on Oct 23, 1946 by the American military administration, enabling people to give up their Japanese names.

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